Professed Christians are encouraged to worship at the alter of Mammon. If your concern is with what you have rather than what others do not have, can you legitimately claim to follow Christ? That does not sound particularly born again in the Lord to me. Matthew 25 spells it out in pretty simple terms. You run the risk of being counted among the goats if you neglect the poor, sick, old, and disabled.
I have to come to dislike sharing my faith because I feel like I have to apologize for the actions of my fellow Christians. I have to explain that I believe we are all equal and loved in God's eyes. Growing up, I was taught that I was morally superior because I was male, white, heterosexual, and Christian. I later learned that none of that was true. Not one word. Remind me again who is the father of all lies?
I have to apologize for their obsession with what other people do with their genitals. Paraphrasing Jesus, control your own impulses rather than fret over the impulses of others. It seems like sage advice.
I refuse to mistreat a neighbor, co-worker, or member of my congregation because they are in same-sex relationships. It is a lousy testament to the whole Love Your Neighbor as Yourself thing. Strange how many Christian leaders that demand that I throw rocks at members of the LGBT community are found to have committed sexual sins or covered up sexual abuse by other clergy. I am sure that is merely a coincidence. Only when it happens with regularity do we call it a trend.
I question the sincerity of those that profess to be pro-life when they also oppose contraception. I am not alone.
To be clear: None of the contraceptive methods employers are required to cover under the Affordable Care Act cause abortion, including the specific types of contraception to which Hobby Lobby objects. Instead, these contraceptive methods work by preventing pregnancy (fertilization) from occurring in the first place. For instance, the intrauterine device works primarily by preventing fertilization. Plan B (or the progestin-containing, morning-after pill), along with Ella (ulipristal acetate), delay the release of a woman’s egg from her ovary. The egg does not get fertilized, which means the woman does not become pregnant.
In fact, long-acting contraceptive methods, such as IUDs and implants, are the most effective forms of contraception for preventing unintended pregnancies. And preventing unintended pregnancy is key for those who identify as pro-life, because almost half of all unintended pregnancies end in abortion.The whole "blurred lines" thing between religion and limited liability corporations is nauseating. Jonathan Merritt nails it:
“The New Testament never—not one time—applies the ‘Christian’ label to a business or even a government,” he writes. “The tag is applied only to individuals. If the Bible is your ultimate guide, the only organization one might rightly term ‘Christian’ is a church. And this is only because a church in the New Testament is not a building or a business, but a collection of Christian individuals who have repented, believed on Christ, and are pursuing a life of holiness.”If for-profit corporations have religious rights, can we stone them for their sins? Shouldn't they at least be held to same standards as religious congregations if they are equal to churches?
I have no explanation for their lack of concern for the suffering of others. They are overflowing with concern for the unborn, but cannot seem to muster the same enthusiasm for the already born.
Once upon a time, evangelists appeared on television to proclaim God's love and condemn the evils of communism. Now many praise the virtues of capitalism as if it were somehow immune to sin. This evolution is remarkably unsettling.
What do we call ourselves when the Christ brand takes a hit? More often than not these days, I prefer Jesus Freak.
Today I Give Thanks (TIGT) for black raspberry season.
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